Coin operated machines, such as payphones, vending machines and pinball machines, typically include a slot in a front panel for receiving the coin or coins required for their operation. A customer typically inserts a coin into the machine by pushing it through the slot in the front panel. From the slot, the coin is directed by a coin passageway to one or more coin test stations which test the coin's validity. If a coin is valid it is directed to an accept chute and the customer is given credit. Because a coin must be able to travel freely from the slot along the coin passageway, these machines are vulnerable to vandalism and abuse due to the insertion of foreign matter, such as paper, straws, or other materials through the slot where the foreign material can block the coin passageway.
One common scam is to insert material into the slot of such a machine to obstruct the coin passageway. When an unsuspecting customer inserts a coin or coins into the slot, the coins jam in the coin passageway due to the obstruction. After the frustrated customer leaves, the vandal, using a paper clip or other suitable instrument, removes the coins by fishing them out, or dislodges the coins by rapidly and violently operating the coin return lever to shake them loose.
In prior coin mechanisms, coins enter the mechanism through a coin entry. Under the influence of gravity, the coins progress downward between front and back plates. Each coin rolls or slides on its edge along successive coin tracks and is subjected to one or more tests of coin genuineness and denomination by coin sensors mounted adjacent the coin passageway. In order to allow for jams to be cleared and for periodic cleaning, the lid typically is mounted to the deck with a hinge and a spring is provided to bias the lid to a normally closed position. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,086 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. To clear jams or clean the mechanism, the lid is opened by the serviceman to gain access to the coin passage.
It is further known to construct a coin mechanism so that rotation of a coin return lever causes the front plate and a portion of the coin track mounted on the front plate to move out of their normal position allowing a jammed or escrowed coin to fall into a return chute which directs the coin to a return slot where it can be retrieved by the customer.
It is also known in coin operated telephones to provide a blocking mechanism which operates upon rotation of the coin return lever to block the coin insert slot. The blocking mechanism ceases to block the coin insert slot once the coin return lever is released. This operation prevents the insertion of additional coins while coins are being returned.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,706 describes an adaptation of an industry standard mechanical acceptor-rejector mechanism. While the operation of this adaptation is not entirely clear, this patent does describe providing a slideably mounted door with a coin slot which misaligns with a coin slot in the face plate of a coin telephone. The apparatus is mechanically relatively complex.
While prior art mechanisms partially address the jamming problems encountered in every day operation, jamming continues to occur at unacceptably high levels particularly in coin operated telephones which are left unsupervised for long periods of time. Obstructed machines require service calls to clear them. Such service involves various degrees of dismantling of the machine. For example, a large number of presently operated payphones include electromechanical coin testing sensors whose operation may be disrupted by interfering material thereby necessitating readjustment. Furthermore, a jammed machine is put out of service until it is repaired, resulting in a loss of revenue and disgruntled customers who cannot use the telephone or machine, or worse, who physically abuse the machine because it has taken their money.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to discourage the vandalism of coin operated machines by providing a coin entryway which tends to prevent customers from inserting coins into a machine which has been obstructed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a jam reducing coin entryway apparatus for coin operated machines, such as a coin operated telephone, which tends to provide a pathway for coins to a reject chute when foreign matter prevents a coin's entry to the accept chute of the machine thereby tending to insure that the customer does not lose his money even if the machine is jammed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a coin entryway apparatus which forces most jams to occur proximate the point at which coins are to be inserted thereby making it possible for a customer to either observe that a jam condition exists or to remove a coin which has been partially inserted into an obstructed machine.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a jam reducing coin entryway apparatus suitable for use with a coin mechanism with electronic coin testing sensors which can be easily retrofitted into a standard coin operated telephone.